PM Lee Wanted Succession To Take Place By Feb 2022 But Covid-19 Pandemic Disrupted It
As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has led Singapore since 2004, young Singaporeans below 20 wouldn’t remember anybody else as PM.
However, as he’s now 71 years old, thoughts have turned to his succession plans.
At the National Day Rally 2023 (NDR2023), he assured us that these plans are back on track after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore on YouTube
Recent controversies won’t delay the timetable, he added.
PM Lee postponed succession to see S’pore through Covid-19
PM Lee said this in his NDR speech at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Headquarters in Ang Mo Kio on Sunday (20 Aug).
He noted that he’d originally planned to step down before his 70th birthday, which was in February 2022.
However, the pandemic threw a wrench into the works, disrupting the plan, he said.
Mr Lee postponed handing over the reins as he’d “promised Singaporeans that (he) would see the nation through the crisis”.
Things have now improved considerably, so he declared,
Now Covid is behind us, and my succession plans are back on track.
PM Lee has ‘every confidence’ in DPM Wong
PM Lee said his task has increasingly been about supporting the 4G team, led by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
In April 2022, Mr Wong was named the People’s Action Party’s (PAP’s) 4G Team Leader in preparation for him to take over the PM job someday.
To that end, Mr Lee said he has “every confidence” in Mr Wong and his team.
Thus, he asked Singaporeans to give them their fullest support as well, now and after they take over, saying,
Our nation’s future depends on them, working as one with you to take Singapore forward.
Controversial issues won’t delay timetable
PM Lee also mentioned “several controversial issues” that have drawn Singaporeans’ attention recently.
These issues, which he touched on in this year’s National Day Message, referred to:
- the probe into the renting of two Ridout Road properties by Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan — in which they were exonerated
- the arrest and probe into Transport Minister S. Iswaran, which is still ongoing
- the resignations of Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and Tampines MP Cheng Li Hui due to an inappropriate relationship
They have been dealt with “thoroughly and transparently”, Mr Lee maintained, adding,
These incidents will not delay my timetable for renewal. We are on track.
It’s heartening to know that things are going ahead smoothly again after the disruption of Covid-19. Let’s hope there’ll be no more similar disruptions.
Check out the full transcript of the PM’s NDR speech here or watch it below.
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Featured image adapted from Lee Hsien Loong on Facebook.
